Professional Brake Repair In South Florida
Brakes are a crucial safety component in your vehicle and require routine maintenance. Avoiding brake repair issues should be part of your long-term maintenance plan. If you’re struggling to stop your vehicle, are hearing scraping or squealing sounds, or your car is shuddering when you apply the brakes it’s time to get them serviced.
What Makes Up A Braking System?
Your car’s brake system has the following components:
- Brake Pads
- Calipers
- Rotors (sometimes drums on older cars)
- Brake Fluid
- Brake Lines
- Brake booster and Master cylinder
Each of the systems listed above can, and do require brake repair attention from time to time, it is important when taking your car into any shop that they look at your entire braking system rather than just a single component.
How Does A Braking System Work?
Rotors are attached to the wheel, when friction is applied to the rotor, the wheel slows down. This friction is applied to the rotor via the brake pads. Brake pads are made out of a tough but softer metal compound than the rotors, so over time, they will wear out.
The pads are pressed against the rotor by the calipers, they also hold the brake pads in place. The force that the calipers apply is generated via hydraulic pressure through the brake lines. The medium used to transfer the pressure is brake fluid, this fluid also keeps the inner workings of the brake lines and other components free from corrosion. The “plunger” that creates the force sufficient to stop your car is the master cylinder.
Lastly, the brake booster amplifies the force that you step on the brake pedal and transfers it to the master cylinder.
What Problems Can You Expect Break Repair Issues?
Pads and Rotors
Often the items that are designed to wear away as part of the braking process need replacing. Brake rotors and pads are usually the first that need to be replaced. Over time rotors wear away becoming too thin or even warped. These warped rotors can cause shuddering when braking. You’ll usually notice this when traveling on the highway and braking from higher speeds or braking suddenly.
If you find that you are having to press the pedal down further to stop the car then the brake pads are worn down low and it’s time for them to be replaced. You may also hear a squealing noise. This is a clever warning sign built into brake pads that lets you know as the driver that you need new brake pads.
Brake Fluid
If the brake pedal feels spongy when you press it, you’re probably running low on brake fluid. Tiny amounts of brake fluid leak out from the various seals and connections and the brake fluid reservoir will need a top-up.
Heat plays a major role too. As the brake fluid is exposed to the heat from friction, the chemical breaks down and absorbs moisture. The result is the fluid meant to protect your brake system from corrosion, now becomes corrosive. For this reason, it’s important to periodically flush your brake system with new fluid.
How Foreign Affairs Motorwerks Service Your Brakes
At Foreign Affairs Motorwerks, we take the maximum amount of care and attention to detail as possible. Our break service process always involves the following:
- Checking wear level and thickness of all brake pads
- Proper caliper seating and function
- Signs of leaks on the brake lines
- Brake fluid levels as well as the color and state
- Rotor wear and warping
- Proper functioning of the booster and master cylinder
- Hand brake resetting
We check each part of the brake system using a comprehensive step-by-step approach. All manufacturer requirements are followed for the specific model of car and year model. Any additional work that is noted during discovery is traced back to the original root cause.
We provide a cost estimation to our customers before any repair work is started. This way we ensure that you are 100% satisfied with your customer service experience.
We also offer our customers a specific scheduled maintenance plan to ensure that their cars are cared for in the best way possible.